Costco Connection - March 2010

garden home &
Statuary
habits

Add personality to your green spaces

EBy Laura Langston EVERY GARDEN NEEDS a strong focal point, and statuary provides it. Statues and fountains accent nearby plants and trees, draw the eye and bestow style on a garden the same way indoor accessories can invoke a mood or tone.

Vanessa Gardner Nagel, an author and landscape designer who lives near Portland, Oregon, can’t imagine a garden without some kind of art.

“You wouldn’t leave your inside walls
bare,” she says. “And it’s the same outside: You
need something other than the background
of plants.”
While choosing the right statue or foun-
tain is a matter of personal choice, Gardner
Nagel says it’s also important to consider the

Outdoor accents, such as a statue, a birdbath or a wall decoration, can brighten and highlight your yard.

architecture of the house. An ornate Victorian fountain would look out of character in front of a streamlined, contemporary home. Rules, however, can be broken, and sometimes a modern element in a more formal setting provides the punch that’s needed to elevate a garden from simple to sublime.

Whatever you choose, it’s important to work statues or fountains into the overall garden design. ;ey should never be added as an a;erthought. So how do you do it?

Remember that statuary draws the eye—people always look at it—so it should never be used as an attempt to disguise problematic areas. And always consider your backdrop. “You don’t want to highlight a bunch of wires or the side of your neighbor’s garage,” says Gardner Nagel. “You want a hedge or something architecturally distinct as a backdrop so the sculpture truly stands out.”

s look at it—so

The Costco Connection Costco locations and Costco.com provide items for creating or making over outdoor areas, from garden sculpture, lawn seed and bare-root roses to tools, lawn mowers, outdoor furniture and books.

Consider what role you want the piece to play. Do you want to draw people forward? If so, place the piece to encourage forward movement: at the entrance to the house, at the end of the garden or just beyond the curve of the path to entice people along. Is the piece designed, as Gardner Nagel puts it, “to rest the eye and provide a focal point?” If that’s the case, ensure that the statuary will be appreciated up close and that the surrounding space is conducive to a pause.

If you’re installing a fountain, is there enough seating nearby? Is the sound of the water pleasant yet low enough to facilitate conversation? If the fountain is at the front of the garden to welcome people, is it visible from the street? What does that view look like?

And from a practical point, do you have the necessary plumbing and electrical ;ttings?

Consider the overall view. Will the statue be seen from one side or many? From the house or the deck? Nestled beside a shrub at the side of a pathway? Does it need to be displayed on a pedestal? ;ink about how light falls during the day and which plants will grow and bloom as the season progresses. Experiment with a stand-in object of about the same size beforehand to con;rm scale and placement.

Scale is important. Gardner Nagel says it’s hard to give a rule of thumb, but she tells people not to be timid. “Tiny little ornaments are o;en overlooked because they aren’t bold enough or placed properly,” she says. One large sculpture sometimes has more impact than a smattering of small pieces.

Consider also your investment cost, and don’t forget to factor in the time needed for maintenance. Garden statues made from concrete, stone or poly resin might need a blast with the hose every season (and extra scrubbing if moss sets in), whereas bronze sculptures need regular polishing and cleaning. Fountains also require regular upkeep to ensure that the water and pump remain free of debris.

Statuary works in both large and small gardens, and even the smallest space can feature a sculpture. Gardner Nagel has a tiny ( 2 inches by 3 inches) piece of art in a lovely pot near her front door, where it’s seen regularly and up close. “Art can be any size,” she says, “but it should be meaningful, and my memorial pot has meaning for me.” C